


The Fawn, Ensnared

by Anonymous



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Genre: Conspiracy, Gen, Missing Scene, Sibling Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22046698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Artemis, too, is capable of deceit.A darker take on the Actaeon myth.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7
Collections: PB Anon Meme - 2019





	The Fawn, Ensnared

Artemis liked hunting for the sake of the hunt. Sportsmanship was as important to her as it was for Zeus and Athena. Apollo, her twin, thought that sportsmanship was for the realm of man, for grand events like the Olympics. The winner of the Olympics was crowned with Apollo's favoured tree, the laurel.

Because of this difference in viewpoints, Apollo did not consider it 'cheating' when he made Artemis shoot her favoured companion Orion or when he brought another one of her huntsmen down with a scorpion. Artemis was very upset with her brother, but he believed she would forgive him in time.

By Artemis' judgment, her brother was permitted to interfere with the affairs of mortals, even when those mortals had entered her orbit. Of the two of them, he was the one that thrived in civilisation after all. In time, she understood why he had done what he did with regards to Orion and Iasos. But understanding did not mean acceptance. If it had been a mortal who had slain her favourite, it would be a simple matter to call for his head. But because her brother was the one who had dragged Orion to an early grave, Artemis' needed to stay her hand. She would no sooner harm her sibling than the heavens themselves, but that did not mean he was above reproach.

Rather, she needed time to devise a fitting punishment.

*

Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the moon and childbirth, but she was also the eldest daughter of Zeus and Leto, both of whom could be clever schemers under the right circumstances.

*

Delphi was Apollo's favoured city, a patch of smoke and wonder on the coasts. For generations, her brother had chosen an oracle from the populace to grace all of humanity with his visions. It was therefore at Delphi that Artemis chose to strike.

When the moon was high in the sky and the stars twinkling as they did, when the sun was tucked away in the underworld for his evening slumber, Artemis woke all the animals in the surrounding forests. She shapeshifted into a lion, the king of beasts, and chased the animals from their homes into the city. The people of Delphi, much like their patron deity, were in their homes, asleep for the night. They were very disturbed by the sound of thousands of animals running through their streets. Most of them were so scared, they didn't dare leave their homes. Some of the braver ones thought to scare the animals away; these were trambled beneath hundreds of hooves and tusks.

An hour before dawn, Artemis changed herself back into a lion and herded the animals away from the city, leaving chaos and confusion in their wake.

For thirty nights she continued this prank, so that the people of Delphi were unable to sleep. Each night, right as they were certain the animals wouldn't come back, Artemis chased them through the streets and the sound of hooves, paws, neighs, and growls, cut through the silence of the night. For thirty nights, no one in Delphi could rest.

*

On the thirty-first day, Apollo went to pay his favoured oracle a visit. He was shocked to discover the state the city had succumbed to.

"What is this madness?" he demanded, "Have you been felled by a plague?"

The oracle was terrified to tell him the truth because everyone knew how close the sun and the moon were. And this harrassment from the natural world could only be the work of his sister.

But Apollo was the god of truth, as well as the god of the sun, music, prophecy, and law, and he forced the truth from his oracle's mouth.

"What great injustice have you inflicted upon Artemis?" he asked, once the oracle revealed Delphi's plight.

The oracle said they had committed no sin. The rites for the moon were as punctual as ever and her sacrifices just as plentiful as before.

"That cannot be so," Apollo said. He turned on his heel and left both the oracle and the city behind, crossing from Delphi into the mountains in the blink of an eye. He did not have to search long to find his sister and her companions. The nymphs and dryads departed as soon as they felt his presence, giggling amongst themselves.

"Sister," Apollo greeted, "My city has stoked your ire and on their behalf I apologize, but I beseech you, the people are at the end of their wits. Your torment cannot go on."

Artemis shot an arrow at some unseeable target before responding. She said: "Why do you think it is your city that is being punished?"

Apollo was even more perplexed. "Who do you mean to reprimand then?" he asked.

Artemis gave him a hard look, saying nothing.

"But why!" Apollo protested. "What have I done?!" He paused, thinking to all their squabbles, and amended: "Of late, I mean."

"You have blessed your grandson with a love for the hunt but no respect for the forests. He walks through the woods unclean and desecrates my temple with each step."

It took Apollo a moment to understand who Artemis was talking about for unlike his sister he had many lovers and many children and grandchildren. He was surprised to discover the cause of Artemis' ire to be Actaeon, the one most like her.

"But he loves the hunt," he protested, "And he sacrifices to you regularly."

"He does not give me the choice bits," Artemis replied, "And his hounds are trained to kill, rather than chase." She did not add that Actaeon had boasted to one of her nymphs that he had trained his dogs like Artemis herself.

"And for this offense you have seen fit to reduce Delphi to a shambles?" Apollo asked.

"Would you rather I take it out on your grandson?" Artemis asked in return.

Apollo thought about it. In truth, he had hoped that his sister would take a shine to Actaeon. He had thought his grandson a far more suitable candidate for companionship than Poseidon's whelp. But he dared not voice such thoughts aloud, aware as he was of her wrathful state. Instead he lowered himself to his knees and dutifully beseeched her.

"I would rather you spare Delphi," he said.

"Very well," Artemis said. She kept her voice even so that her twin would not be able to hear her smile for this was what she had been playing at from the start: that Apollo might permit her to sanction his grandson. "Rise then brother, and return to your cities. Tell them the tempest of your older sister has been abated."

Apollo raised his head, wishing to thank his sister, but when he looked up, she was already gone, leaving only the scent of moss and pine in her wake.


End file.
